the president and house speak john boehner take their cases to the american people, but both sides appear farther apart than ever on a real deal. new chilling details emerging about the man who confessed to carrying out that deadly terror attack in norway, as authorities ask the question -- did he act alone? somalia's hunger crisis grows more desperate by the day. can anything be done to avert catastrophe. somalian-born iman is adding her voice for calls to help. hi, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. battle lines are being drawn can no xron ground on a solution to our common debt. a week away from a default with investors still holding on to the belief that somehow someway both sides will come to their senses a el close a deal. last night the president and speaker boehner made their pitches to a national audience. >> defaulting is a reckless and

irresponsible outcome to this debate. the new approach that speaker boehner unveiled today, which would temporarily extend the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts would force us to once again face the threat of default just six months from now. in other words, it doesn't solve the problem. >> the sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. this is just not going to happen. >> nbc's kristin welker is live on the north lawn with the latest for us. kristin, it really was reality tv at its best last night, the president and speaker commanding the air waves when most people were tuning into the bachelorette or "you think you can dance." it seems like we're much farther apart than we ever we are before. >> reporter: you're right. it was political theater at its best of the the only problem

we're about as far apart as we've ever been on this issue, at least that's the way it seemed last night. as you said, president obama took to the air waves, he called for a balanced approach and compromise. he said under that balanced approach he wanted to see spending cuts as well as new tax revenues to increase the debt ceiling. the speech was really remarkable according to a lot of people around here for what it didn't do. it didn't offer a lot of new information. white house officials counter by saying, there's a large swath of the american public that hasn't been tuned into this debate, so it was important for the president to reiterate his calls for compromise and that balanced approach. he also did get behind a plan that's been put forth by senator harry reid. under that plan it would decrease nending by by $2.7 trillion over the next decade and increase the debt ceiling through 2012, so through the next election. that's what president obama has been calling for. senator reid talked about his

plan earlier on "today" so take a listen. >> it's what the republicans have demanded, wrapped up in a bow, but now the demands aren't enough. republican plan they know will not pass the senate of the united states. >> reporter: speaker boehner also talked about his own plan, cuts of about 1.2 trillion right off the top. the debt ceiling would be increased by about six months. the president has come out and says he doesn't want to support a short-term plan and then under boehner's plan, congress would have to come back to the table after that six months and do it all over again. so the truth is, though, thomas, the two bills aren't that different. the one thing that divides them is the timing. under boehner's plan you have a two-pronged approach. earlier today mcconned said he

supported boehner's plan, so it makes you wonder if it can pass the senate. there are a lot of questions about whether boehner's plan will pass in the senate. so a lot of questions here, thomas, and the two sides still very much deadlocked. >> kristin welker, thanks. right now he's having a heart time finding the votes to push his plan and move it to the president's desk. congress mast tim huelskamf has voiced concerns, and he joins us this morning. good to see you, congressman. did you disagree with the white house and some of your leaders on the severe weather of the consequences that are attached to u.s. default? >> well, there's certainly no one in town that would like to default. we're receiving new information that august 3rd was really a political debate. but really it's a failure of leadership in this town that we're at this point in time

where we're asking countries to bail us out. what we're asked for in the debate is give you a long-term plan that solves and provides a solution, not a short-term kicking the can down the road. the senate, of course, refused to take a vote on it, we're asking the senate to produce a solution that works long term. >> do you feel when you talk about failed leadership, do you feel it from your own party and what's going on with speaker boehner? >> i think it's a sign of what's happening all around town. it's obviously what the president said in 2006 when he voted not to raise the debt ceiling, that the fact that we have to turn to foreign countries to bail us out of a spending problem -- we've been on a spending binge for a number of years. the fact is, does this solve the problem? we have to cut spending if we want to balance the budget. we need a serious vote to pass. that's the pledge that many of us took, it.

>> congressman, you make a good point we are paying off the past, paying off the credit card, so to speak s. but do you sense there is in nonchalant feeling coming from new members like yourself about how critically this could impact the global markets? how much the global economy depends on the u.s.? >> the concern we have, i serve odd budget committee, as you noted, is that if we don't solve this problem now -- the problem is not the debt ceiling, it's the spending. if we don't bring our spending under control, raising the debt ceiling without structural reforming, we won't solve the problem. we've heard the concern is the next few months or years if we don't turn around the spending problem, we will have a serious long-term problem that will be unsolvable, so kicking the can down the road or putting things that put off spending cuts to the future, now the plans are talking about less than 7 billion? spending cuts the first year.

we need more. that's what my constituents tell me. congressman huelskamp, good to have you on this morning. >> thank you. police across europe are scouring possible link between the norway gunman. breivik told an oslo court there are two other cells in his organization. the hague has already set up a specialist unit with 50 detectives. meanwhile, a march through downtown oslo had to be canceled last night, because there were too many people. 150,000 mourners flooded the city. nbc's jay gray is live for us in oslo. fill us in about what please are saying about the potential of these two cells. >> reporter: they're definitely looking into the possibility, though they still contend this was an act done by just breivik

hiship. yeah, they want to know who he's associated with. his lawyer has said he's been involved with other cells. he wouldn't say what countries and wouldn't say how many, so that's where the investigation stands at this point, but police very curious to know who he has discussed things with and how this all caming to. >> jay gray, thank you. a group of lucky teens are now telling their harrowing story. the boys say they were practices survival skills near a riverbed when the expedition turned into a nightmare. >> when i saw the bear initially, the bear was probably about 15 feet from the first hiker, and it pounced. >> the screaming that i could hear from my friends and the growls from the bear, which were

loud and deep, and then the screamings were just helpless. i can still hear it in my head. >> chaos, disbelief and just the confusion that was going on, really was overwhelming to handle. it was just one of the most terrifying things that ever happened to me in my life. >> two other 17-year-olds are hospitalized. they are both recovering from bite wounds. miguel almaguer is in anchorage to bring us up to speed. do we have word about the possibility of when they may go home? >> reporter: thomas, good morning. their conditions are somewhat guarded. hospital officials won't say exactly when they could be discharged. that are conditions have been upgra upgraded. hospital officials say all of them will recover. the group was on a 30-day

survival expedition. they were on day 24, when they were attacked by a bear. the group was in a line of seven crossing a riverbed when the lead teenager was screaming out, yelling out to let any surrounding animals know they were in the area as they were trained to do. that's when they say a grizzly bear with a cub attacked the front lead teenager, mauled that teenager, that 17-year-old boy, then turned to another boy in line, mauled him and turned back to the first victim. they say it went on for five to seven minutes, this incident wasn't over. in fact the drama had just begun. they were on that mountainside for up to nine hours as they waited for a final med evacuation. the two boyce that were seriously hurt are now in good and much better condition, thomas. >> it really is miraculous.

thank you, miguel. a girl who survived a nasty shark attack a week ago is expected to make a full recovery. 6-year-old lucy was floating on her boogie board in a foot and a half of water. afterwards, megan told her -- but this morning on "today" her mom jordan says her survivor has had a change of heart. >> actually last night we were chatting about it, and she said i don't care that the shark bit me, i forgive him. and i think that -- you know, we talked about enough about it, this was a mistake, the shark didn't want to eat her, and that's why he just bit and left it there, and swam away. >> all right. the doctors say that little lucy should be back on her feet running in about 6 to 8 weeks. a heart-wrenching global

crisis to discuss today. more than 2 million somalis facing starve's. distributing food is difficult and dangerous, but it's absolutely necessary. somali-born model iman is joining us live joining the chorus of voices. we'll talk to her right after this. naturals from purina cat chow. delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life.

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welcome back, everybody. the united nations will take desperate measures this week in somalia, airlifting food where foreign aid is prohibited by local militant leaders. we want to warn you, some of the images we're going to show are disturbing. these emergency drops are for refugees fleeing somalia along what the u.n. has called roads

of death, lined with mothers, children, elderly men, and women who were sometimes too weak to take the journey to kenya or. iman, nice to have you on this morning, bringing such a great voice to what's taking place in your native country. when we look at the numbers there are -- right now, more than 2 million have been cut off from any help. so, in your experience, is this just the tip of the iceberg of what the real problem is there, of how bad this could get? >> yes, this is the tip of the huge problem that is facing them. i want to give you a history of what's going on. the warning signs of drought were predicted in november last year and save the children org

and other aids in the country anding on have been asking for money. what happens is development, long-term donors do not consider drought their concern. humanitarian donors wait until drought becomes a disaster to get involved. as we all know, the united nations has declared somalia -- two spots in somalia a famine. in a that really means is 2 people out of 10,000 have to die daily to be declared a famine, that translates to 1,500 people daily have to die for an action to happen. though this sounds really dire, it's really not hopeless, because there are really ngos on the ground. i was there, you know, doing a documentary for bbc in 1992 that was the last famine. imagine 200,000 people died in

that famine. now, this is twice as much, and it's getting to aastronomical numbers. but there are ngos on the ground, like save the children, who have been there for 20 years and the somali people trust. >> when we talk about save the children, that's the charity you support, also the u.n. will be making this drop, but logistically, politically it's really difficult to get foot to the people that need it there, especially with this situation, al qaeda-linked militants are keeping food from getting to the kids. how frustrating is that to you, that aid is on its way, but not reaching its destination. >> imto say it is reaching its intended destination, for example, like save the children, what they do, first of all, they have been in the country for 20 years, a lot of people have left somali because of its conflict and political issues, but regardless of the conflict, regardless of the political issue, this is a humanitarian

catastrophe of what's happening there. the food will be getting there if the donors and -- and i'm appealing to your average person to really donate money so the ngos really get in and get the food to the people who need it. mind you, save the children is feeding 9,000 malnutritioned children monthly, and they're saying the numbers are doubling by the day. so this really is an urgent need, but it's not hopeless. the warning signs were there, they were ignored, and now the it's time for the rich donors and humanitarian donors to give the money the organizations need. they will be involved in this conflict areas, political issues, but they are staying neutral humanitarian agencies, period. they do not get involved or

bogged down with the political issues. >> when you mentioned about being there in 1992, i believe we have some video from the documentary. this is where hundreds of thousands of people died. would you feel safe to go back and do this again, do a documentary like this around the current crisis? >> i will do anything that it takes to help make -- put a platform and an issue for people to see the gravity of what's going on. obviously the security situation? somalia is really, really bad. if i do, i would go under the auspices of save the children, as i said, the somali people know them, trust them. they have been on the ground for 20 years, they are the best effort to the people who will be able to save the children of somalia. mind you we're talking about the future of somalia, because malnutritioned children, it's not like you feed them and then they are fine. that's not how it works. these people will be affected

for generations. we're trying to stop that from happening. >> the threat now is to lose an entire generation. >> that's exactly why it's so urgent that we need the donors to step up and help to save the children. other organizations, if anybody is interested in knowing how to help, they can go to save safe the children.org. in these tough economic times, even a single dollar has to be transparent. this is why i'm involved with save the children, because it is transparent and every dollar, goes dr 95% of it goes to the ground, and the other 5%, what we do, is we try to get the other dollar. >> that's great work, iman, and thank you for the powerful volley. we wish you the best of luck. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. anything, if you want to help out, go to msnbc.com, and you can find links and new information on where to make

your donations. a shocking new report. where is the wealth coming from? that's in today's soundoff segment. later, did we learn anything from the duelling speeches, other than our government is most definitely broken? after this. whoa.

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singing her favorite song, carole king's "so far away." fans continue to pay tribute to -- autopsy results monday were inconclusive. toxicology tests are currently being done now. she faced three years behind bars after someone else killed her son in a hit-and-run. today raquel nelson got a break. cheers one up when the judge sentenced her to 12 months probation and 40 hours of community confess. nelson and her three children were not in a crosswalk when they were hit crossing a street. her 4-year-old a.j. died. the driver was caught and served six months. the feud between tim pawlenty and michele bachmann. it continues to roll on as they each fight to get the win. in this war of words between them the right strategy? we'll take a look. protective.

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a new report on the long-term financial impact of the great recession is revealing a staggers disparity when it comes to income and race in the u.s. the bursting of the housing market bubble in '06 and the recession that followinged took a far greater toll on the wealth of minorities than it did on white, melissa harris-perry, is a columnist for "the nation" she joins us live. great to see you. >> good to see you. >> as always. let's get straight to this. it's clear from the study thathood spans were hit the hardest. as we look at the numbers here, wealth dropped 66%. it dropped 53% in african-american households. in white households meanwhile, it only dropped by 16%. what is the impact economically across the board? >> i mean, i almost can't think of anything that could have a

worse impact. remember, income is what we get from our wages or maybe from your investments, but it really can be made up. your income can drop, but you can get another job when the recession comes back, and when the recession ends and we come back financially, but this wealth gap can't be easily made up. the wealth gap compounds, so when your house loses value, which is largely why we see for hispanics and african-americans a much bigger hit, because almost all of 9 wealth of minority households exists in their one piece of property, in their house, so when we see that drop like that, it is much harder to come back from a wealth decline than an income decline. >> when we talk about the phrase of trickle-down economics, for most families wealth does trickle down and it's accumulated over generations. but when we look at the different households for asian wealth, that dropped 54%.

why are minorities hit so much harder than whites in this recession? it seems like it's hit dramatically harder. >> there are lots of reasons for it. part has to do with where the wealth exists, to kind of hold you up. what we know is minority north households were just beginning to gain welt. it wasn't as deep. it was much easier for them to lose it, but remember this wealth gap has in fact existed as a pretty stunning number, sort of ten times the wealth in white households as in black. it's just now we're talking about 20 times in white households. >> when we talk about the communities that overwhelmingly supported president obama in the last election, these are the communities that came together to form a majority how do you

think that would affect him and whether or not they shop around for a new candidate? >> my bet is in this election that won't happen, right? in fact, african-americans, latinos, asians will still be in the coalition, but what it does mean in the long term is look, when we start talking about our financial crisis as a country and people paying into the system, the fact is we are about to be a majority/minority country. if minority communities are staggeringly below in wealth, that means america is, that means our future has really been mortgaged in a way that may not affect president obama's electoral coalition, but it collects or collective future in a profound way. >> that's kicking the can down the road right there. thank you. it's great to see you. . the phones on capitol hill are ringing off the hook. democrats want americans to know the key to solving the issue is compromise, but they need a willing partner unafraid of taking heat from conservative

groupsly grover nor quist's americans for tax reform. take a listen. >> we both have to come together and realized american people could give a tinker's darn about some pledge signed. they want us to move this country forward. >> sir, nice to see you. just moments ago senate minority leader mitch mcconnell came out in support of the boehner plan, saying the republicans have offered the only proposal that gets to the root of the problem for the country and has a chance of making it to the president's desk. what are your thoughts on that? >> well, it won't work. it's a short-term solution. it kicks the can down the road until january of next we're. we northeast to give the markets predictability. we need to raise the debt ceiling. everyone understands the problems. we just don't want to defer it for a few months. we have to deal with it now. >> what was your initial

reaction that harry reid was preparing a debt package that contained nothing on the revenue side, which was such a sticking point for so many democrats early on. >> clearly the reid compromise is disappointing we wanted to see a $4 trillion grand bargain where we could deal with our deficit in a credible way. that's not to be the case by august 2nd. we believe that senator reid, leader reid's proposal is the most responsible that will allow us to accomplish two goals, first increase the debt ceiling, but saidly put us on a glide path where we can get our debt under control. we think that's -- and it contains ought provisions that have been agreed to at one time or another by the republicans. so we think it is a politically feasible proposal, one that will raise the debt ceiling through 2012 and puts us on a glide path to deal with our deficit. >> i'm sure you understand the

temperature outside of washington, d.c. where americans are watching this process play out, and they can be pretty open and honest about the fact that they're disgusted by it. i want to show you what some people have had to say when they've spoken with nbc. >> we can't even manage a budget, which every responsible family does. here our national government looks like curly, mo and larry or the marx brothers. >> now is the time when people have to check their egos at the door and come together, regardless of what party they're from. >> so what do you say to these people who feel that washington is broken? we hear from a young lady there saying it's time to check egos at the door, and the other gentleman saying it's like washington is full of -- americans watching your performance with your colleagues on the hill, what does that tell you from your constituents? >> well, first, i understand their frustration and i agree

with some of their observations. i think they're absolutely accurate. the problem is there's a group of republicans in the house that don't want to compromise. they want it their way or the highway, and quite frankly you can't have a credible plan and also include the most wealthy in our nation. revenues need to be part of the equation. so, look, we're willing to compromise, we're willing to make sure we move this nation forward. i quite frankly think the senate, both democrats and republicans have shown that type of spirit. look at the gang of six, look at what happened with the debt commission, but there's a group in the house that won't compromise, and they're more interested i think in their political messages than they are in the system working. >> senator ben cardin of maryland, thank you for your time today. >> thank you. joining mess is former labor secretary robert reich he's the author of "aftershock." professor, good to see you this

morning. >> good morning, thomas. >> senator cardin is given an insider's perspective. we have regular man on the street interviews about how they feel, but when we talk about the specifics, about the u.s. credit rating that could be downgraded, even if we raise the ceiling on time, some analysts are saying that a downgrade is inevitable. lawmakers have gotten this country into a real mess. in your estimation, from your background, is washington broken? it just can't seem to get its act together? >> undoubtedly washington is broken. the big problem, though, is that you have two sides who are still way, way far apart, and the clock is sticking. i mean, we have to have an agreement by tuesday, or interest rates not only for the federal government, but really for average people with regard to auto loans, variable rather

mortgages, everything else, start going up. the possibility, thomas, is those interest rates could go up very, very dramatically. that will bring the economy to a screeching halt. that would mean that the jobs crisis we have right now would become even larger. nobody wants that, or at least they say they don't want that, but after listening to a lot of the pontifications last night, i'm not sure. >> this is a clip from the president's address last evening, describing what government is like. take a listen. >> we can't allow the american people to become collateral damage to washington's political warfare. the american people may have voted for divided government, but they didn't vote for a dysfunctional government. >> certainly most of us think we come from dysfunctional families, but we don't want to see our leaders in washington describing that as the time they are experiencing there. this isn't the first time

congress has been divided, but in your opinion, this is the first time it's been this dysfunctional? >> this is the first time in my memory that you've had the two sides really on the brink of a default, a default of the united states on its obligations to the world. we've had government shut downs before. this time around, we really could see the full faith and credit of the united states jeopardized, we could see social security and medicare checks not going out at all. >> professor reich, great to see you again. appreciate your time. >> good to see you, thomas. bye-bye. keep it right here on msnbc. coming up at 1:00 today, an degree use mvple speaking with jacob lew, and talk about what the president is willing to accept. all right. it is shaping up to be a minnesota throwdown. the war of words erupting from former governor tim pawlenty and

michele bachmann. here is what pawlenty had to say today on the campaign trail. >> she has a record for saying things. there's a difference difference with talking about things and getting them done. >> let's bring in domenico month narrow. montinaro. >> this is about the ames straw poll coming up in less than three weeks. it's something that's a key first organizational test and really a key nominating state. tim pawlenty has registered in the single digits. michele bachmann has been out front, in faulk even leading some in polls, and he needs to take her down to hope to have some momentum. >> is this just smart politics, ball tim pawlenty has been seen weak in now maybe he's going to try to appear stropg taking on

michele bachmann? >> yeah, he just has to be able to finish at least in the top two if iowa. if he doesn't do that, he could be difficult to see his path going forward with mitt romney so as far as ahead in new hampshire. if hi can take someone down like bachmann, maybe there's some reason to din. ames is a really important part of that, because it can give some momentum. mike huckabee won it in 2007, and of course he went on to win the caucuses in january. >> domenico montanaro. good to see. this 10-year-old is serious about exercise and he has six-pack absence to do it, but is it too much for the fourth grader to have? our is this inspirational? >> he's showing off his guns already.

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welcome back, everybody. fast food megagiant mcdonald's is putting a health conscious shine on the arching today. they're announcing any changes for the happy meals. one serving of fried or vegetables will be arded. the portion of french fries will shrink. the changes will start taking effect in december. by april all 14,000 mcdonald's restaurants in the u.s. will offer they healthier happy meals and first lady michelle obama is praising the steps. all right. so it started with just a few pushups, just some sit-ups, all on the advice of a football coach, and now it's evolved to what is now an unusually sculpted seek, a wokout dvd, and even a fitness class, and he's only 10 years old. he's a boy wonder and fits in

extraordinai extraordinaire. he does his own routines three times a week, 'em teaches a fitness class in georgia, but how young is too young to be a fitness guru? i'm joined by the workout kid himself, c.j. center. how did you get started becoming so involved with fitness? why do you love it so much? implts . >> i love working out so much, so i can stay fit and healthy, have a long, happy life. i love to work out. it's fun. it's really good to do. >> c.j., who introduced you to this? and how did you get to enamored by wanting to say so fit? so, c.j., who introduced you to this? -- i think our connection with c.j. didn't work out.

i was really looking forward to it. can we try to get him back? we're going to try. i apologize for that. again, c.j. center is just 10 years old, i think we have him back. are you there, buddy? >> yes, i'm here. >> i lost you at the point where i was asking about how -- who introduced you to fitness? >> well, nobody really introduced me. i just started working out when i was 5, when i got home from football practice, and i liked it. >> so now at 10 years old you have a fitness dvd, teaching a fitness class to older kids, what do you think is in your future? do you want to stay involved with being a type of fitness guru? or do you think professional sports is in your future? >> well, my future, i think professional sports is it. >> is a possibility. you're a talented football

player. tell us about what position you play for football. >> i play running back, safety and corner, and i love plays football, because i like scoring touchdowns, running the ball. i like -- and it's real physical. >> you sound like a coach's dream. tell us about what would be the perfect meal for you. how would you put together your dinner, tonight, for example? >> well, i'm not really sure. my mom cooks the food. >> she does. does she take into consideration you like to eat healthy? >> i can eat anything that i like, as long as i work out. >> what do you tell other kids your age that see you doing this and maybe they are suffering from being a little obeet. what would you tell them that they need to do to be more like

you, more fit, more active? >> well, i would tell them to just go outside, have fun, stay for at least one hour. and then you won't have any problems and you can work out and get fit. >> c.j., you are an inspiration to all of us young and old. you want to show us your guns once again? look at those. there you go. which way's the beach? c.j., thanks, buddy. we'll look for you in years to come. >> thank you for letting me be here. we've heard about cut, cap and balance and the grand bargain. these are all names of failed plans to fix our deficit problem. there's a lot more than a name. we're going to look back at oter oh jekts, the debt proposals, which at this point looks like a list which is not ending anytime soon. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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it's now time for the flip side, our look behind the headlines. lawmakers are going back to the drawing board once again to come up with a ket deal. and by our count they've burned through at least nine different proposals with nothing to show for it. there was the grand bargain, to cut over $3 trillion from the debt which fell apart last week when speaker boehner walked away. the house gop had their own plan, it died a sudden death in the glik senate. there was reid-mcconnell, aka plan b to maneuver to let president obama raise the debt ceiling on his own. the idea that he already has the power to do so under the 14th amendment. the biden talks they stalled out when eric cantor walked out and the gang of six lost a member only to return last week with a

big plan that went nowhere. the sixth member of the gang senator coburn had his own scheme. so did the progressive caucus with its left leaning people's budget. in may the vote that started it all a clean hike in the debt ceiling no budget deal attached shot down in the house. nine deals that bit the dust. it's only going to take one to save us from default. that's going to do it for me. thanks for your time. i'll see you back here tomorrow every weekday morning. contessa brewer here now. just exhausting to go through all these different plans. imagine the negotiations surrounding them. there's a revolt right now on twitter over this debt debate in washington. how people are reaching out to lawmakers. and also, why the wealth gap is widening between whites and minorities. and what's behind the angry birds revolution. it's even turning up in classrooms. how is a video game a teaching tool? we'll get to that, next hour.

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good tuesday. i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast. the big story, dysfunction junction. seven days and counting to the august 2nd debt default deadline. the two sides seem even further apart. >> right now there's no danger of any bill getting to the president's desk because we're at stalemate. >> it seems an edge bridgeable gap. >> the american people may have voted for divided government, but they didn't vote for a dysfunctional government. >> in back-to-back speeches president obama and house speaker john boehner laid out duelling debt plans. >> we can't allow the american people to become collateral damage to washington's political warfare. >> president obama pushing what he calls a balanced approach. including spending cuts and raising tax revenue. >> the sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago and he wants a blank check today. >> john boehne